Qu4drupleForte's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Treehouse]

So I never knew this genre of jazz existed which is not something I've said in a while but I dare say I love it? Immediately I have to say the atmosphere, sound design and mixing are superb, which is rare in a piece that has so much dark, rumbling pads in it. The whole band is restrained in the best possible way; there is room for more complexity in the drum patterns but since this is a moody, repetitive piece I think that's fine. I think the use of those strange, warbling ambient sound is especially good, they at movement to the piece without upsetting the dark mood. When I listen to this in inevitably think of cold, late night trips back home; I hope some game dev picks this up for their noir/dark RPG or adventure game because it'd be perfect.
Keep it up my friend, you've earned another fan.

Azhthar responds:

Thanks a lot for the nice, detailed review! I know what you mean with the complexity of the drum patterns. They are actually one of the most complex things in the song already but they are also basically the only thing that can be more complex in such a piece. I´ll keep it in mind for the next track. Also I´m glad you like the mixing. Actually I still think the pads could be louder but they would make the piece definitely more muddy If I don´t sidechain them extremely, which would create a strange mood in this track. I´ll try to play around with it a bit more. Thanks again and keep it up!

[Diamonds]

Not exactly complex, but still has a tight mix a moody feel; this one's begging to be used in some sort of dark, modern-day RPG.

MrMeowGD responds:

Yeah I was going for a simple but dark theme for the track lol, probably gonna be releasing some more complex beats soon.

[Journey (C64 Chiptune)]

This is a really solid chiptune piece! Firstly your melodies are all very distinct and catchy. You move back and forth between different ideas really well, it's repetitive but not tedious. Your melody and the eventual countermelody are well balanced and I particularly like the lead-synth at 1:00. The melodic elements and structure are great, but I feel the drums and bass leave something to be desired. The 8-bit snare and kick are authentic but lack punch and this is often a problem in pure chiptune music. I would recommend using EDM or D&B style drums (FL's free samples are good) in this piece, they pack a punch (you might need to layer the snare a bit) but should still fit in. If you want you could still run them through a bit-crusher on a low setting to get a slight 8-bit sound. The bass is also kind of limited by the synth. I'm not sure what sounds are in DefleMask, but a rounder, less sawtoothy sound would be best for this stuff, once it locks in with the drums it'll sound phenomenal. A solid effort and worth being proud of; I honestly think if you could port this over to something like FL Studio you could breathe new life by redoing the bass and drums alone.

[Yearning For Love (Rearranged For Violin)]

First off, your main theme is very well written, it's recognizable from the first few notes and conveys (to me) a distinct sense of sorrow, however you could've varied it more. Throughout the piece the theme is only really played in a detaché manner or by the piano, I suggest you try exaggerating your articulations much more to make the most out of it, for instance, try having the viola play the theme all legato during the second iteration, as for piano, make use of its extreme range, I know octave shifting sounds cheap, but just moving the theme to the 2nd bottom/top octave can make it sound much brighter or darker.
I feel like this was held back somewhat by structure, this has to do more with my taste, but I think it'd help if you built your piece around your main idea with 3 or 4 iterations of your main melody separated by solos or duets, I suggest you listen to baroque concertoes for idea of how this works (here's one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPba-i26YNA, also try the four seasons).
I also read along with your score (thanks for providing it!) and since you asked, yes the viola part is all fine, a soloist would have no problem with the vast majority of this piece; the double stops are all carefully written and the viola's full range is used with proper consideration.
Well done! keep up the good work!

Tyguy80s responds:

Thank you fortissimissimissimisso. Perhaps I should be more eccentric in the melody articulating and variations . I don't play the instrument, so I exercised caution to an extent to not "overdo" something that I'm wasn't sure of at the time. I'll compose a complete collection of romances in the near future and I'll revise this piece when I dp; with your advice in mind.

Octave shifting isn't cheap. The simplest answers are almost always the correct. The Sorcerer's Apprentice is a fantastic demo. of octave and interval shifting. So's Dvorak's New World. I love Vivaldi, he knew how to vary a theme; he knew how shred too :)

Thank you again, I had a weird feeling about that high E. The double stops, I used my guitar knowledge to think of the open strings of the violin/viola and counted notes up and down the fingerboard as I notated; I'm glad you thought well of it. Will heed your advice in future string writing.

[BIT.TRIP REMIX EXTRA - Triumph (RUNNER)]

I'm not a big chiptune fan but I love this! the samples, and synths all blend together really nicely and I look forward to the finished version cause the mix is already top notch, the bells and mallets don't in the way of drums which are super tight but not obnoxious. Perhaps there's a bit much repetition? in a game context (depending on the game's pace) I guess this is ok, but at the beginning I count 8 bars before anything really comes in, I reckon it sounds fine at just half that length, but it's your choice. My only real beef is that as much the beat changes a little throughout, it would be nice to hear different samples and not just different rhythms, the more chill section just after half-way in begs for a more lighter ride or hat or something, it's a difficult thing to do, I know, but I think it'd help bring out the change in mood.

ganon95 responds:

its somewhat repetitive because the original beat is based on short loops, which for this remix i wanted to keep a similar feel. This song actually has been completed its part of the BIT.TRIP RUNNER full remix, but this is an alternate version of that track.

[[FGS] Nostalgia switch]

Such a chill atmosphere, the bells and melody all go together perfectly and transition well into the beat. All I'd recommend is making the growls heavier and maybe adding a bass synth/pulse underneath it to really deepen the mix.

[Forbidden Dimension]

Nice job man, this is the kinda weird I like, that somewhat vocal-sounding sample that plays the main tune in the beginning and end goes well with the mallet(ish) synths and I'd honestly would've described it as being otherworldly even without the "alternate dimension" prompt. That change about half-way including the pads worked really well, but I think you could've added more layers, I was waiting for a echoey bell to soar over the arps or something. I'll admit that towards the end there's a bit much repetition for my taste, the last section could be half the length and I'd like it, also the heavy reverb in the section between the beat and intro is a bit obnoxious, maybe tone it down and lower it an octave to make it less noisy. Other than that I do appreciate you finishing as you started, helps add to the surreal factor.